The four-game skid continues

Courtesy of Victoria Genna

No. 21 UCF baseball suffered its fourth consecutive loss, 5-4, in extra innings against the Jacksonville Dolphins on Tuesday night at John Euliano Park.

Head coach Rich Wallace told reporters that the Knights need to regain their competitive spirit and return to the program’s standards of play to fight out of the gauntlet like the Big 12.

“They walked us 10 times and we scored four runs. You can’t beat an army of guys on base,” Wallace said. “At some point in time, you’ve got to stand up there and have your best at bat. We haven’t done that for the last four games.”

Jacksonville redshirt junior infielder/outfielder Derek Bermudez put the first run on the board with a 364-foot home run to left field at the top of the first for the Dolphins (18-18, 6-9 ASUN).

Freshman infielder Jordan Lodise and senior infielder/outfielder Cayden Gaskin responded with RBI singles that put the Knights (20-13, 10-5 Big 12) ahead, followed by redshirt senior catcher Zak Skinner scoring on a passed ball unearned in the next two frames.

UCF kept the lead for four frames, until Jacksonville senior infielder Sam Grunberg homered to left field to tie the matchup 3-3 at the top of the eighth. A scoreless ninth inning led the ballgame into extra innings.

After both teams added a run in the 10th frame, an RBI single from Jacksonville senior infielder/outfielder Roger Vergara gave the Dolphins a 5-4 advantage.

Redshirt senior infielder Braden Calise gave UCF hope with a two-out double down the right field line, though it was snuffed out after a flyout from senior outfielder DeAmez Ross ended the matchup.

Jacksonville narrowly passed UCF on both sides of the ball, hitting .256 overall and a strike percentage of 57.8, compared to the Knights’ .214 overall hitting and 59.9 strike percentage.

“I thought we pitched well enough to win that game. It’s just we’ve got to be a little better offensively in some spots,” Wallace said in the postgame conference.

The Black and Gold continue their four-game homestand against the Cincinnati Bearcats in a weekend series, starting Friday at John Euliano Park.